The pothhole is in front of my house and every time the cars and trucks pass by (over 40 MPH) at night they wake me up.
It seems that the hole is expading because as the vehicles pass by, they break pieces off as they go over the hole.

My parents live on this street right where the pothole is. I visit almost daily and I am fearful of damage occuring to my car. In addition, the whole Ridgewood side of Race Track Road looks very poorly taken care off, as if it was a low income neigborhood rather than one of the better areas in Bergen County. It gives the impression that Ridgewood does nto want to commit any resources or capital to an area where middle income families live. It lowers the value of the houses. The previous comment that referred to Race Track being an access to Route 17 is correct. It makes it very dangerous because vehicles, large trucks and buses use this road to get to Route 17 and typically go well over 40 mph. With the pothole situation the way it is, it is very likely that a serious accident wil occur due to a speeding vehicle or truck hitting the pothole and going out of control. If this happens and the vehicle ends up on someone's property, there could very well be serious property damage and possibly personal injuries since this is the time of year when people tend to be out and about in their yards and walking along. Ridgewood could very well be liable for this resulting in very costly expenditures rather than the lesser costs associated with repairing the pothole and upgrading the condition of the sidewalk in this area.

Absolutely correct. And in fact one speeding truck which was bouncing down the road ripped the phone line right off house here... and the force smashed windshield of a car. Of course the truck just kept on going.

Luckily it was not the power line! Ho Ho Kus enforces the speeding more than Ridgewood does here... but both should.. it is an obvious money maker if they did - even just to ticket vehicles going over say 45 (it's a 25 mph zone). But neither town enforces it nearly enough given the huge volume of traffic here . Big potential revenue generator for whoever does enforce it... gosh, that could pay real fast for repaving and curbs!

There are multi-holes on Racetrack - another one getting worse is near Lynn St. Because the street has so much traffic, it really needs to be a priority in terms of both re-paving and also the curbs on the Ridgewood side- which are nearly flat with the level of the road .

Also this section of the road is lower than up near Nagle Street - also lower than past Banta St where road rises up to join Route 17.

Result is that water rolls down from the west (Nagle St and further up) and and flows like a brook each time it rains - then ponds. Since no real curbs, the water rolls into yards - and houses - since there are also no storm drains at all on this part of road. All houses from Lynn to Banta on Ridgewood side of road are below the street level, making it worse.
Water also rolls down from up by Rt 17.

Yet on Ho Ho Kus side, the town built new higher curbs and sidewalks a few years ago - which solves the water problem for those folks... but kinda makes it worse on the Ridgewood side given no curbs and pitch of the street etc.
(it did so at no expense to prop. owners by the way-yet taxes on Rwd side are much higher than Ho Ho Kus)

All of it greatly affects noise, quality of life, and also property values in the area. But despite numerous attempts to get Ridgewood's attention so far nothing has been done... for years now.

It continues to get worse. Here are a couple pictures which show worst of many potholes and also show curb height is only 1" or less, while on other side of the street in Ho Ho Kus, curbs are nearly 6" height.

Just one picture of very low curb

Low curbs on Ridgewood side mean water problems for all homes on that side of street
No storm drains in this area at all.

Curb on Ridgewood Side

Update- some of the potholes were patched --but already the patches are starting to fail (within just 2 days) . They won't last long with the constant heavy truck and car traffic on the street. While the effort is appreciated, the patches really will not solve the problem since they won't last - the Village people who visited agreed with that. At least from Lynn St to Banta - and likely up to Rt 17, resurfacing is needed.

The curbs remain as always- a severe problem as to water runoff etc. The street is pitched so water will run to the curb-- but due to curb being nearly no height, it just runs over and into yards -- and houses. All houses in this section are below street level. The crew from the village said doing berms even as a temp measure using asphalt requires a machine they did not have with them. Previously the Village did build up an asphalt curb/berm for 1 owner, which actually made things worse for others along the street. Many here have been requesting this for over 4 years now, but nothing has been done.

It still badly needs attention-- and should be a priority due to all the traffic here and lack of any storm drains etc as well.

The patch applied to the potholes were just dropped and pressed with the foot application/procedure. Since the material was not properly pressed in the hole as it was being applied, the weight of the vehicles pushed it in deeper, exposing a lesser, but still evident pothole. Also, the product applied as a patch is soft and the vehicles running over it, seem to be taking it away on the wheels and spreading it outside the pothole perimeter.
Every time I look at the potholes, a small amount applied material is ripped out of the pothole and spread outside on the street. If the material is not pressed in properly and it does not harden, this will be a very short lived fix.

It's getting worse by the day, and the curbs still need attention very badly. The big trucks that are allowed on the street just make the situation worse.

The couple shovelfuls of patch applied really do not solve much... and likely will not last long either.

Repaving this part of the road really needs to be a priority - the curbs too. Despite bringing it to the attention of the town for years, nothing has been done. There are no storm drains, and the non-existent curbs make the water runoff situation worse.

Both are bound to cause more problems-- and maybe accidents like when the wires were ripped off one house by a truck bouncing down the road going too fast over all the holes. Anyone in this area knows well that no one obeys the speed limit here-- but many vehicles GREATLY exceed it and go way over 45MPH here (the posted speed is 25) It just makes things worse.

And about the curbs, we've this year left 2 msgs for the engineering dept - no one has called us back. We spoke to them last year, the year before, and the year before that about it too - each time they promised they would at least build temp asphalt berms as a substitute curb - but did nothing. All the while, the situation just gets worse.

When you talk to the town, they also say to talk to the county. When you talk to the county, they say to talk to the town!! (and of course WHICH town depends on what side of the street too!)

An added note to the comment above:
Although I pay much higher taxes than Ho-Ho-Kus, I can only thank their Police since they are the only ones that monitor the vehicles to assure that the speed limit is obeyed. I don't remember, if ever, seeing the Ridgewood police doing this.
I am ashamed to say that when I want to go for a walk, I have to cross the street and walk on the Ho-Ho-kus side because.

If BOTH towns would simply enforce the speed limit more- even only ticketing say for going over 40 or 45 (25mph is posted) -- you'd have enough money in no time to pay for the repaving AND the curbs too.

It also might send a much needed message that this street is NOT the highway...

So, 2 problems could easily be solved -- and funded, too.

Update 5/10 Though the potholes have been temp fixed with a few shovels of asphalt, this will not likely last long.

The curbs remain a big problem, and no one from the Village has done anything, despite requests over past several years to the Street Dept and Village Engineer's office. Each time an actual person has been reached, they have assured several people they would "measure" and order asphalt to build up at least temp curbs -- as was done years ago for one owner here. Though doing it for one property actually made things worse for the others nearby in terms of the water problem... the Village has not done anything further.

It is getting worse all the time of course. As the pics above show, the curb is about 1 inch high. There are no storm drains in this part of the road, and the houses are below the street level, making the huge amount of water runoff just overflow into yards... and ultimately houses.

As expected the temp patches done are starting to fail now, and the situation on this street is getting worse. The constant heavy truck traffic and too many people going way too fast makes the situation worse.

Nothing at all has been done about the curbs, despite many years now of notifying the Village and being promised we'd get at very least some asphalt berms to help control the water runoff problem.

As noted above, some years ago the Village did built a berm for only one property, which actually made the situation worse for others nearby because they get all the water which rolls down the street (no storm drains here at all). And that berm has been broken by snow plows, garbage trucks (one recently hit a car here) and truck traffic.

It is amazing that on the Ho Ho Kus side of street they got new curbs and sidewalks provided by that town, yet on Ridgewood side, despite paying much higher taxes, nothing is done except endless promises . This has been going on long before recession, budget squeezes and so on.

The situation continues - the patches are already worn out and new cracks and potholes have opened up due to all the trucks and traffic going too fast.

The curb situation continues too - for years now, and gets worse. With all the houses below the street level, it is a real problem in terms of water runoff.
The Village has done nothing about the curbs at all.

The Village added a few more shovelfuls of asphalt, but that has actually made the problem worse, the trucks and many cars thump over all the patches and so it is constant "boom-boom" all day and night inside all the houses here. And like the other patches, they will not last long. Last ones lasted only a few weeks.

Yet in many other spots around here, they repaved at least parts of the street - which is what is badly needed here on this very busy street!

And the curbs-- nothing done at all except to replace a little section of a berm they built for one house only- which a garbage truck damaged when it hit our neighbor's car. As has been noted in this thread, that berm actually makes the water runoff worse for the others nearby since it is only for one house.

Funny too, the garbage truck is registered to.... The WATER Department!!! And yet no houses from Lynn Street to Route 17 on Ridgewood side have Ridgewood Water!!! (Ridgewood has no water main here... ). We get-- and are billed for-- water from Ho Ho Kus. This has been true since 1954 when these houses were built.

Worse, when the garbage truck hit neighbor's car, he then learned that the Village has some kind of special law which allows it to NOT FULLY PAY for the repair!! That's pretty amazing... and so is that the garbage truck is registered to the Water Dept...

So, if your car hits a Village vehicle, you must pay the full cost of repairs -- but not if it's the Village's vehicle that hits you-- golly how is that fair at all?

This also means that everyone in this area is paying part of their taxes for WATER... which we cannot even get from Ridgewood! For years I was told that the Water Dept was self-supporting by the users of Ridgewood water (which includes some other towns besides Ridgewood) But it seems not so... since the garbage trucks are registered to the Water Dept. My neighbor has copies of the documents for the garbage truck which hit his car.

This whole thing just seems to get more ridiculous the more you look into it. Fact is, we need curbs, we need repaving here, and we should not be paying taxes for anything supporting the water dept... it should be supported by those who can actually get and use Ridgewood Water! And with the curbs, several here have been notifying the Village for YEARS now, with no result except empty promises they will do something, but they never do.

Update 8/10-- the little bit of asphalt the Village used for paving the multiple potholes has mostly worn away on busy street. You hear big thumps as all the trucks go by and hit the uneven surface, day and night.

Most other streets that are main thoroughfares in this area have had full repaving, but not this one.

The poor (almost non-existent) curb problem also continues without any action at all.

update 9/7 Situation continues bad. Most all of the quick-fix
patching came right out from all the trucks on the road.

Tonight especially bad... from 11pm to 1am over 135 trucks were counted going east to Rt 17 on this section of Race Track Road.
All made loads of noise from hitting all the patching and potholes. Hard to sleep- some people count sheep but here you count trucks bumping along and shaking all the houses. For this privilege you pay... big time!

Most other busy roads in this area have been repaved. But not this one.... and the noise is real bad. Ridgewood's service to owners here has been really bad... the curbs, sidewalks and all the rest. Ho Ho Kus side homes pay WAY less in taxes than Ridgewood side... yet the Ridgewood people get way LESS in services from their town here. And paving?? No one seems to do much of anything.

update 9/22: nothing has been done. Large trucks that go by here (often too fast) rattle the houses. In basements you can literally feel it, and upstairs, the windows rattle. It's because the road is in such poor condition. This cannot be good for the structures.. besides being disruptive.

Curbs: also nothing has been done despite Ridgewood promising for years that they would at least build up temp berms using asphalt as they did for one owner here, but they did nothing for others. We have spoken numerous times to "engineering" (per Street Dept) but no tangible result, just promises they will follow up. This has been ongoing for several years.

Sidewalks: poor condition continues, yet other side of the street has excellent sidewalks and curbs which were provided by Ho Ho Kus and the county at no cost to owners.

Because of many elderly people here, for years we have helped them in winter with snowblower. However poor condition of sidewalks has resulted in damage to the machine of over $300 and so we will not be able to help neighbors so much anymore.

It just continues to be bad. Several quick patches have been done, but as others have noted, they last a week or so and tend to actually make all the road noise inside houses much worse.

On Ridgewood side, one of the speed limit signs is now gone too, near Banta on Racetrack, and thus this encourages people to go even faster, making things worse.

Curb situation also continues as others have noted and the water problems lack of real curbs cause also just continue.
Clearly this needs attention but has received little to none.

Nothing still has been done, a very long time after this was first reported in see/click/fix. It was apparently reported to the Village long before that as well.

In the recent storms and slush, those in this area on Ridgewood side have been forced to attempt to dig drain channels in the accumulated ice/slush/snow because otherwise their homes flood, due to not having any real curbs here. They are so work that water rolls over them and into the people's garages and basements. The houses are all below the street level, and there are no storm drains.

Well, I guess that the town of Ridgewood will probably drop our taxes to a lower rate to reflect the money we have been paying for these services for years. I wonder if we may also get a refund from the last time they fixed the streets?
Hey, why not, Ho-Ho-Kus has a lower tax and provides better service to their town!
Isn't that the way it works? More taxes more service, less taxes less service!!!

Good luck with that tax drop! Obviously simple logic is not operative here. Yet the Ho Ho Kus side of street did get new curbs and sidewalks a couple years ago -- no charge to the owners. Of couse that made the street water situation even worse on the Ridgewood side .... What's really needed are some storm drains... but pretty unlikely that will ever happen since Ridgewood has no "main" in Racetrack in this section, nearest storm drain is around a corner and about a block down on Banta. (No Ridgewood water mains here either - the houses have always had Ho Ho Kus water)

At least a real curb would allow some of the street runoff that rolls in from up past Nagle Street to roll past these houses and not INTO them! Racetrack is lower in elevation from Lynn St to Banta, then rises up again to get to Route 17. So with no drains, the houses get a huge amount of other people's street water runoff - and with no curbs it just rolls up over the sidewalks and driveways and into the houses since they are all below the street level.

Maybe the theory is we get more street water and so should pay more taxes for "privilege" of self-defending against flooding from it? Yeah, that's logic all right!

My dear friend,
You have to have faith in the politicians from Ridgewood just like the ones that are at hand of our nation. Look at the trend of our nation's direction and goals. We did not get to were we are overnight! If it wasn't for the politicians, you and I could not have done it ourselves.
Now, the same goes for this great town of Ridgewood! I believe that the politicians are doing the best they can to fix our streets, but its going to take some time!!!!!!!!!!
If you have grandchildren and live in Ridgewood, I am convinced that they will enjoy the fruits of our taxes some day, and that our politicians are working very hard right now to make it a reality.
Have faith and trust in them - lets keep a positive attitude and show it at the polls!!!

Gotta love that "dear friend" post - whoever wrote it. I've long believed in power of positive thinking, but I think even the late Norman Vincent Peale would agree it's long since time to get 'er done on this stuff....

I'd just be happy to see some actual curbs and maybe a storm drain. The County supposedly will pave the street next year... BUT the Village needs to do new curbs before then, or things will just be even worse once the street is repaved (assuming that actually happens).

Lots of other areas in Ridgewood seem to get plenty of attention and stuff gets fixed, but this one has been ongoing for a very long time and nothing has been done. Racetrack is one of a very few streets where big trucks are permitted... meaning it should be even more of a priority to keep the street and curbs in shape.

It also gets a lot of pedestrian use due to being near the Park/Ride and bus routes etc. Yet the sidewalks are mostly in bad shape too on the Ridgewood side. On the Ho Ho Kus side, the town got funds to build new curbs AND sidewalks, and the property owners didn't have to pay for that.

Wonder what (or who) those officials in HHK know that the Ridgewood ones seem to not know! Obviously the money to build new curbs and sidewalks over there came from somewhere. Why can't the Ridgewood side get the same?

We've also reported to the Village several times that some street lights on Lynn Street are on all day and night --24/7. Makes for one heck of an electric bill which taxpayers foot -- but that's been going on for a long time too. We have zero street lights on this part of Racetrack by the way.

So the "fruits of our taxes" seem to go for keeping street lights on when the sun shines... rather than practical stuff like real curbs and walks. Ummm. I don't think that's what "sunshine law" is supposed to mean!

Well,
I've been living on Racetrack Road, between Lynn and Banta for 25 years, and I have never seen the town redo the streets, specially the curbs and sidewalks. I just wonder how long before I moved here when they were done?
When I go for a walk to downtown Ho-ho-kus or to Maple Avenue from my house, I am embarrassed to say that I immediately cross over to the Ho-ho-kus side because they have sidewalks and you can walk from Route 17 to town without having to walk on the streets like if I lived in the countryside of Mississippi or some poor town in the Midwest with no sidewalk! The only difference is that they may not have sidewalks, but they pay way less taxes than we do here in Ridgewood!
BTW – the person (Anonymous) who made the travesty on the politicians is my hero!

The street was repaved MANY years ago though with all the holes today you'd never know that.

The curbs have NEVER been redone since the houses were first built- that's obvious to anyone who looks at them. The sidewalk came several years later after many folks complained about kids walking in the busy street. They also have never been redone. But Ho Ho Kus always had sidewalks on their side... and they were completely redone a few years ago along with new curbs. They busted up the old ones over there and made nice, new smooth walks and for-real curbs. The Ridgewood people between Lynn and Nagle likely never complained, and so there has never been any sidewalk at all in that section. Past Nagle, all the houses between Racetrack and Franklin were built much later... with still-functional curbs and nice walks.

With walks, apparently the current Ridgewood "position" is that owners should pay.... but in Ho Ho Kus, owners did NOT pay for the new walks nor the new curbs. That's a provable fact, just ask the DPW over there (we all deal with them because we all have HHK water though we pay Ridgewood taxes...)

That guy who posted earlier is my hero too... but politics is one thing. Simple wise use of resources like not spending for street lights to be on all day and protecting people's property against heavy street runoff by having reasonable drainage and curbs is another. If you have money to let street lights be on all day long, why is there no money for critical things like curbs and walks?

It isn't as though this has not been brought to the attention of officials - even this thread started 10 months ago... and it was brought up to the Village long before that- going back years. Yet, nothing has ever been done. On the HHK side though, those folks get great service, new curbs and walks too. They got the $ from somewhere, so it is pretty hard to fathom why Ridgewood can't seem to do that

Well,
I do have a question!
Who looks at these issues?
Are the do'ers reading these comments?
It sounds to me like this bog was placed here so that we write to our heart's content and feel better that we did? Just like having a punching bag to hit when you are frustrated..
Writing to someone who reads these issues and does something about it is great, but if not, its a malintent to physiologically make us feel like someone is listening to us and doing something about it (what I call a mental masturbation), but they are not!
So far, I have not read a single reply from the big cheeses in town!
Are we wasting out time writing issues to this page/blog BS? What’s the point?
Sorry if I figure it out and it upset the mastermind creator of this idea!
It would not take long before someone else figures it out that writing your concerns to this page and having someone important read it is like digging a hole in the ocean or talking to your dog! The alternative is to print this entire page, bring it to the next town meeting and ask the big cheeses if they have ever seen this page and if they can read it out loud to the public!

I agree is sure is frustrating to get nowhere over and over.
If you clieck on "Where did this report go" above it says it went to "Town of Ridgewood",
but not WHO.

Perhaps the large round bin!!

Despite bringing this to the attention of various Village officials and illustrating via photos, nothing has been done. They have said that the County will repave the street but that the Village is not planning to do anything about the curbs, which are just about non-existent now.

It's a serious problem - and has getting worse for a long time. If the street is repaved (which is badly needed) - without new curbs on the Ridgewood side the situation will become even worse. There are no storm drains here and the water running down the street routinely runs up over the very old and worn curbs and into the houses, which are all below street level in this section. What's termed a "curb" on the Ridgewood side is a little bump less than 1 inch high due to years of erosion - there's no diff in its height than most driveway apron bumps.

Yet on other side of the street in Ho Ho Kus, the owners got new curbs and walks only a couple years ago -- at no cost to property owners (verified).

Status quo continues- nothing has been done. For the very high (and going higher) taxes people pay here, they should at least not have to deal with street runoff water rolling into their houses and yards from the street due to the lack of useful curbs. A lot of the water originates from further up the road, and rolls down here and into the houses. Storm drains would be the better answer, but having real curbs like on the Ho Ho Kus side would sure help matters a lot for multiple homeowners here.

The county did temp paving (2 strips) however they state that the curbs are Ridgewood's responsibility. Actually the increased road height from the paving has made situation worse about the curbs- they are now less than 1 inch above road surface. Ridgewood officials have been notified and seen the problem first hand. The water runoff problem is serious because there are no storm drains and many houses are below the street level. Despite attempts to get this fixed via either new or repaired curbs, so far nothing has been done (as of 12/11)